State House Sound Bites

The State House Sound Bites Podcast is now called State of the State and is a part of PA Post, a digital-first, citizen-focused news organization to hold Pennsylvania’s government accountable to its citizens.

Episode 42: Making it up as they go along

Written by
Katie Meyer
|
Feb 9, 2018 6:40 PM

Your browser does not support the audio element.

By the time you listen to this podcast, there's a good chance that things will look a bit different.

All week, we've been waiting to see what the state legislature will do to respond to the state Supreme Court's declaration that Pennsylvania's congressional maps are unconstitutional, and justices' subsequent order for lawmakers to redraw them by February 15.

The deadline for the General Assembly was even tighter; they had to submit new maps to Governor Tom Wolf by February 9 (the day we recorded this podcast).

As of the recording, we knew only that the legislature would not have time to vote on the new map, so its presiding officers--House Speaker Mike Turzai and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati--planned to collaborate on their own maps and submit those to the governor, without a vote.

PennLive's Wallace McKelvey and Liz Navratil of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Philly Inquirer join us to discuss all the potential outcomes, and the political, legal, and practical implications of this strange situation.

Stay Connected

A partner of

The official registration and financial information of WITF may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, (800) 732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.